Buenos Aires,
Argentina
High-resolution
image (584 Kb)
Buenos Aires,
Argentina, is one of the largest cities seen by orbiting crews.
Twelve million people --almost one-third of all Argentines -- live
in this city, often called "the Paris of the South." Taken
very early on the morning of Feb. 8, 2003, from the International
Space Station with a handheld electronic still camera, this remarkably
clear image shows the lights of Argentina's capital city.
Brightness
of the lights exactly represents the density of the urban population,
which declines all the way to the blackness of the farmlands that
surround the city. The brightest area is the old part of the city,
centering on the port and the presidential palace, the Casa Rosada.
The blackest part of the scene is the River Plate, the great estuary
of the Atlantic Ocean on which this port city is located.
The widest
city thoroughfare in the world -- the Avenida 9 de Julio, with four
major roads running parallel, separated by grassy swards -- is the
brightest line in the downtown cluster. It appears as the longest
north-south strip just inland of the port. Four major highways can
be seen diverging from the city center. These highways may be more
visible due to the well-known late-night traffic of weekend Buenos
Aires. The inner part of Buenos Aires is the Federal Capital district.
It is outlined by the great boulevard, Avenida General Paz. The
straight segments of this boulevard can be detected angling around
the north and west sides of the city.
Astronaut photograph
ISS006-E-24987
was provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory
at Johnson Space Center. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSC Gateway
to Astronaut Photography of Earth.
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